Robin R. Jenkins

The determinants of household recycling: a material-specific analysis of recycling program features and unit pricing

Abstract This paper analyzes the impact of two popular solid waste programs on the percent recycled of several different materials found in the residential solid waste stream. We examine a unique, household-level data set representing middle and upper-middle income groups in 20 metropolitan statistical areas across the country and containing information on the percent recycled of five different materials: glass bottles, plastic bottles, aluminum, newspaper, and yard waste. We find that access to curbside recycling has a significant positive effect on the percentage recycled of all five materials and that the level of this effect varies across different materials. The length of the recycling programs life also has a significant positive effect on two materials. Making recycling mandatory has an insignificant effect on all five materials. The level of the unit price is insignificant in our regressions, but the effect of unit pricing on recycling activity remains unclear.

Host Community Compensation and Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

Payments to communities from landfill developers in exchange for permission to construct, expand, or operate a landfill have become popular. The value of this host compensation varies widely, yet the factors that influence it are unexplored. We construct a unique data set of host fees paid by the 104 largest privately owned solid waste landfills in 1996. We find that citizen participation in host fee negotiations, experience hosting a landfill, state mandates for minimum host compensation, and firms with greater resources all lead to greater host compensation. We find limited evidence that neither the racial makeup or income level of the community nor the negative externalities associated with a landfill are important. (JEL R53, Q24)

The Evolution of Solid and Hazardous Waste Regulation in the United States

This article reviews the evolution and interaction of legislation, regulation, and practical experience concerning solid and hazardous waste management and site cleanup in the United States. The evolution of waste laws provides insights that fall under three themes. First is the effect of new information. Early waste legislation was written in an environment of limited information. As understanding of waste management, disposal, and cleanup issues improved, the governing statutes were amended and the regulations refined. Second, new waste laws were sometimes a reaction to structural and behavioral responses to previous regulation. For example, the Brownfields Law was written to address poorly functioning property markets for land tainted by real or perceived contamination, attributed in part to the liability rules in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Third is the balance of responsibility between federal and state government. Initially, waste issues were solely the purview of state and local governments. With the advent of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and CERCLA, the federal government took on a prominent regulatory role and established baseline national regulations. In the past three decades, the states role has expanded again, resulting in a variety of enforcement- and incentive-based state programs. This diversity across states may be evidence of efficient accommodation of local preferences and conditions.

Policy Monitor U.S. Emergency Response and Removal: Superfund’s Overlooked Cleanup Program

Over the past five decades, the U.S. government has enacted laws and developed regulations to respond to actual and threatened releases of hazardous substances. This article describes a relatively understudied component of the nation’s response capability: the Superfund Emergency Response and Removal Program. This program addresses a wide range of threats, complicating efforts to assess its net benefits. We examine a new dataset of 113 recent removal actions at 88 sites in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region and find a great deal of diversity across sites, from the causes of contamination to the types of risks and the cleanup strategy. Contamination most frequently resulted from improper disposal, handling, or storage of materials. Soil, air, groundwater, and surface water contamination were prevalent at these sites, but risks from not yet released contained contaminants and potential fire or explosion were also common. We describe the involvement of potentially responsible parties and examine EPA expenditures on removal actions. Finally, we consider challenges for future research into the net benefits of the program.